Yazidi Iraqi refugees return to Turkey after failing to reach Europe

As many as 600 Yazidi refugees have returned to their refugee camp in Diyarbakir, south-eastern Turkey, after failing to cross to reach Bulgaria.

The refugees, who included women and children, left the refugee camp which was set up by the Diyarbakır Metropolitan Municipality in protest against poor living conditions and boarded buses to the state of Edirne with the aim of reaching Bulgaria, but the Turkish army stopped them.

Diyarbakir Deputy Governor Mimar Sinan Batmaz and officials from the Department of Immigration visited the Yazidi refugees and met with their representatives to convince them to return to the camp.

Refugee Kassem Mirada told the Anadolu Agency that Yazidi refugees suffer from difficult living conditions in the camp so they left in an attempt to reach Europe.

Approximately 250 Yazidis who also left a refugee camp in Diyarbakır to go to Bulgaria have been sent to a camp in Mardin after they were caught close to a border gate in the north-west of the country.